Kyriaki "Corinna" Tsopei (; born 21 June 1944) is a Greek actress, model and beauty queen who won Miss Universe 1964.

Career

On 20 June 1964, Tsopei was crowned

Miss Star Hellas Star Hellas () is a national beauty pageant in Greece. The Star Hellas, Miss Hellas, Miss Young title is a trademark for Vassilis Prevelakis and Associates E.E. George Prevelakis, the founder of the company, was the driving force behind the He ...

by Miss Star Hellas 1963, Despina Orgeta. She moved on to represent

Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...

at the Miss Universe 1964 pageant in

Miami, Florida Miami is a East Coast of the United States, coastal city in the U.S. state of Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County in South Florida. It is the core of the Miami metropolitan area, which, with a populat ...

, where she beat out Miss

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

, Miss

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

, Miss

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

, and Miss

Republic of China Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. The main geography of Taiwan, island of Taiwan, also known as ''Formosa'', lies between the East China Sea, East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocea ...

to be crowned

Miss Universe Miss Universe is an annual international major beauty pageant that is run by a Thailand and Mexican-based Miss Universe Organization.Natalie Tadena (July 2, 2015"Donald Trump's Miss USA Pageant Lands on Reelz Cable Channel". ''The Wall Stree ...

, bringing the title to Greece for the first time. She has since returned several times to judge the pageant. After completing her reign as Miss Universe, she went on to pursue a brief movie career, making five uncredited or minor appearances (including "Girl in Cage" in '' Caprice'', "Telethon telephone operator" in '' Valley of the Dolls'', and "Tennis Girl" in '' The Sweet Ride'') in 1967 and 1968, before appearing in her only prominent role as the love interest of the lead character in '' A Man Called Horse'' (1970). Tsopei also guest-starred in a 1967 episode of the television series ''

Lost in Space ''Lost in Space'' is an American science fiction television series created and produced by Irwin Allen, which originally aired between 1965 and 1968 on CBS. Lightly dramatic, sometimes comedic in tone, the series was inspired by the 1812 J ...

'' ("Castles in Space") and a 1968 episode of ''

Daniel Boone Daniel Boone (, 1734September 26, 1820) was an American pioneer and frontiersman whose exploits made him one of the first folk heroes of the United States. He became famous for his exploration and settlement of Kentucky, which was then beyo ...

''. Apart from her beauty pageant work and acting career, Tsopei also is a

chair A chair is a type of seat, typically designed for one person and consisting of one or more legs, a flat or slightly angled seat and a back-rest. It may be made of wood, metal, or synthetic materials, and may be padded or upholstered in vario ...

of an organisation for children with

leukemia Leukemia ( also spelled leukaemia; pronounced ) is a group of blood cancers that usually begin in the bone marrow and produce high numbers of abnormal blood cells. These blood cells are not fully developed and are called ''blasts'' or '' ...

Family

Tsopei was born on June 21, 1944, to George and Maria Tsopei. Her father, George (1914–1997), was a

Greek Army The Hellenic Army (, sometimes abbreviated as ΕΣ), formed in 1828, is the land force of Greece. The term '' Hellenic'' is the endogenous synonym for ''Greek''. The Hellenic Army is the largest of the three branches of the Hellenic Armed F ...

major, originally from

Mani Mani may refer to: People * Mani (name), (), a given name and surname (including a list of people with the name) ** Mani (prophet) (c. 216–274), a 3rd century Iranian prophet who founded Manichaeism ** Mani (musician) (born 1962), an English ...

in the

Peloponnese The Peloponnese ( ), Peloponnesus ( ; , ) or Morea (; ) is a peninsula and geographic region in Southern Greece, and the southernmost region of the Balkans. It is connected to the central part of the country by the Isthmus of Corinth land bridg ...

. She has one brother, Basil, and one sister, Despina. Tsopei was married twice. Her first marriage was to Beverly Hills plastic surgeon, Dr. Steven Zax, from 1968 to 1978. Tsopei's three sons were born to the couple during this marriage: Andrew, Steven, and Paris Zax. Tsopei's second marriage was to Hollywood theatrical agent and movie producer Freddie Fields, brother of band leader

Shep Fields Shep Fields (born Saul Feldman, September 12, 1910 – February 23, 1981) was an American bandleader who led the Shep Fields and His Rippling Rhythm orchestra during the 1930s. His distinctive Rippling Rhythm sound was featured on big band remo ...

, from 1981 until his death from lung cancer in December 2007. Tsopei resides in Los Angeles, California, but pays frequent visits to Greece to visit relatives.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Tsopei, Corinna 1944 births 20th-century Greek actresses Greek beauty pageant winners Greek female models Greek film actresses Living people Miss Universe 1964 contestants Miss Universe winners Actresses from Athens